Empire State Railroad
The Empire State Railroad was a Pre-War railroad company operating primarily in the northeast. History The Empire State Railroad was founded by Charles Van Den Berg shortly after the Civil War ended. Van Den Berg, the son of a steamboat ferry operator, was born in New York City but left the east coast to strike it big during the California gold rush. While he did not become rich beyond his wildest dreams, he did strike some sizable loads and became much wealthier than he had been before he left. Years later, upon the death of his father, he returned to New York. Van Den Berg inherited his father’s ferry, but he quickly sold the steamship and the rights to the line. Using the money from that sale, combined with most of his earnings from California, he invested in rail. Van Den Berg had seen how wealthy the rail and shipping magnates out west had become, and he was interested in setting himself up in a similar position, albeit on the East Coast. Between 1870 and 1880, Van Den Berg purchased two failing railroads: the Hudson Railroad, which provided service on the Hudson River between New York City and Albany, and the Trenton and Philadelphia Railroad, which provided service between Trenton, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Under Van Den Berg’s leadership, the Empire State Railroad grew, and by the turn of the 20th century became one of the largest and profitable railroads on in the northeast. Charles Van Den Berg died in 1896, and ownership of the railroad transferred to his son, Oliver. Oliver was a capable owner who not only kept the railroad alive but expanded it greatly. In the early 20th century, railroads across the country boomed, but thanks to its location, the Empire State Railroad did especially well. Between 1940 and 1960, the railroad expanded west, to Chicago and south, to Washington D.C. Thanks to these expansions, the railroad became one of the busiest in the nation, with an estimated 50 million traveling on it each year. The emergence of the interstate highway system and the skyrocketing costs of diesel took a bite out of the Empire State Railroad’s profits at the turn of the 21st century, but they were able to stay in business at a time when other railroads began folding. Switching exclusively to cargo shipping, the railroad was able to invest in nuclear-powered locomotives and stay profitable. In the 2030s, the company attempted to revive passenger transportation, but due to a string of lawsuits alleging radiation poisoning from the mighty nuclear-powered locomotives, the company returned to freight only once again. In the 2060s, engineers and technicians perfected protections in the company’s fleet of trains to prevent passengers from being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation and once again took on passengers. Like the rest of the world, the Empire State Railroad went out of business on October 23, 2077, when the Great War broke out. The rail lines owned by the railroad were not specifically targeted, but many of them sustained massive damage in the explosions of that fateful day and in the years since. While the company is long defunct, the Windy City Line is still being used. Not a Railroad Nomad group in the traditional sense, the Dred Runners have restored a locomotive and travel the Empire State Railroad rail network. The stretch between Thrilladelphia and The Pitt is known as the Slave Road because of the booming slave trade between the two settlements arranged by the Dred Runners. Lines Hudson River Line New York City (New York), White Plains (New York), West Point (New York), Poughkeepsie (New York), Albany (New York), Saratoga Springs (New York), Burlington (Vermont), Montreal (Canada) Windy City Line New York City (New York), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Canton (Ohio), Cleveland (Ohio), Toledo (Ohio), Fort Wayne (Indiana), Chicago (Illinois) Capital Line New York City (New York), Trenton (New Jersey), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Wilmington (Delaware), Baltimore (Maryland), Bethesda (Maryland), Washington D.C. Long Island Branch Line New York City (New York), Jamaica (Queens), Elmont (Nassau, Long Island), Hempstead (Nassau, Long Island), Merrik (Nassau, Long Island), Bellmore (NassauLong Island), Massaequa (Nassau, Long Island), Amityville (Suffolk, Long Island), Lindenhurst (Suffolk, Long Island), Babylon (Suffolk, Long Island), Islip (Suffolk, Long Island), Sayville (Suffolk, Long Island), Patchogue (Suffolk, Long Island), Brookhaven (Suffolk, Long Island), Mastic (Suffolk, Long Island), Eastport (Suffolk, Long Island), Westhampton (Suffolk, Long Island), Quogue (Suffolk, Long Island), Hampton Bays (Suffolk, Long Island), Southampton (Suffolk, Long Island), Bridgehampton (Suffolk, Long Island), East Hampton (Suffolk, Long Island) Category:Pre-War Group